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Lorica (post 'ward of the state') in the esperverse meets a Lucian and a Lia
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Nikki pulled again at her arm, trying to pull her arm away from the rough sandstone grasp of the hulking rock monster. She screamed too - mostly from the pain in her broken arm but also because she thought that she could hear sirens already, and someone who could rescue her couldn't be far behind they had to be here soon and she'd be fine and someone would fix her arm and it would turn into one of those stories you could at a party about how you'd been kidnapped but espers had saved you and everyone would sit around and nod beca-fuck ow god those stories never had the sound of your bones breaking as the monster dragging you toward a dungeon readjusted it's grip. 

But she had time, and she could keep pulling, and until she was in the dungeon there was a chance someone would hear her screaming and she'd get medical attention before the blood dripping from her broken arm became a serious medical problem and and.

That hole in the fabric of reality wasn't there when she last climbed these stairs. What if she just, throws herself down at this angle maybe its grip will- nope ow that was really bad and definitely didn't work and why can't she just be anywhere other than here other than trapped and heading into the dungeon, anywhere...

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- what the fuck, ow, ow, ow -

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It is sort of hard to orient yourself when the lighting, temperature, and humidity change a second after you show up at a place.

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Are they going to keep doing that?

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Nope! It's settled down on a dimly lit corridor of a sandstone cavern, carved in a way that makes it seem natural rather than man-made. As for her - her arm is broken, bleeding, held in the grip of a sandstone creature of some sort, and the wrong color but not any of the ones you'd expect her broken arm to be.

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Okay, so - Leviathan, then discontinuity in her memories followed by some Master sending golems after her and... she has no explanation for her arm being brown. Is the golem otherwise stopping her from moving beyond holding her arm?

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Nope, just steadily moving forward and dragging her by said arm. 

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She will try to keep up - oh, heck, her implants aren't working. Or have never been here? Since she's... not herself? She will try to keep up anyway.

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The floor isn't exactly smooth but it's definitely better than not trying to keep up at all.

Eventually there is a brighter light coming up ahead, and she can see... what might be an exit? Except there's another wall in the distance from the exit. As they get closer it becomes clear that the exit leads directly into an extremely deep ravine of some kind, sandstone cliffs - dotted with similar exits - on either side. 

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Well, this is a shitty place to be a software tinker.

...

Wait a second, is she... a...

Wow, this is a shitty place to not even be a software Tinker.

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The golem thrusts her out of the exit, still holding her hand, and she dangles over the edge of the gaping chasm for a moment before it angles it's arm to bring her up to a somewhat precarious ledge on the side of cliff.

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Okay, okay, she's going, she's going!

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It leaves her there, with what would ordinarily be a reasonable pretty view of the other side of the sandstone ravine.

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Is there anything obviously to be done about her arm? Can she take off her shirt and wrap it up maybe?

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That will in fact help with the bleeding and keep it from being painfully jostled quite as easily.

Eventually other people are dragged to other ledges.

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Do any of them look like they might be in a condition to talk to her?

Also is there anything in her pockets?

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Yeah, most of them seem to be less injured than her! The woman to the side of her only looks a bit disheveled. 

She has a pack of strawberry bubblegum, a wallet, and a pair of keys.

The wallet contains Nikki Carter's driver license. 

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"Do you know what's going on here?" Lorica asks her neighbor.

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"Exactly what it looks like?"

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"I think I might have hit my head or something, I'm really confused."

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"We've been kidnapped into a dungeon - I don't know if this one has showed up before."

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Wow, what is it you are supposed to do for a possibly concussed person again?

"Do you know what year it is?"

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"Not, uh, confidently."

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Well that isn't a great sign.

"Want to guess?"

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